Quick Hits, August ’12, pt. 2

Folks, it’s been a few days between blogs, mostly because I’ve had much to do and little time to do it in. But I do have a few things to discuss, so let’s get to it.

Congratulations go out to Seattle Mariners’ pitcher Felix Hernandez, who pitched a perfect game on Wednesday, August 15, 2012, against the Tampa Bay Rays. (One of the many excellent stories about Hernandez’s perfecto can be found here.) This was the third perfect game thrown this season by major league pitchers, and it’s already one more than was thrown in the entire 2011 season.

On a milder note, but staying with baseball, congratulations should also be given to Milwaukee Brewers first baseman/right fielder Corey Hart. Hart, you see, hit a grand slam home run in the eighth inning last night against the Philadelphia Phillies; that grand slam home run was the difference in a 7-4 win for the Brewers. (And to think that Hart had been 0-for-3 with three strikeouts before that, though that’s a bit deceptive as Hart’s previous three at-bats had come against Phillies ace Cliff Lee.)

And in more baseball news, former Brewers ace Ben Sheets, now with the Atlanta Braves, currently has a 4-2 record with a 2.13 ERA in 38 innings pitched; Sheets has also given up 8 walks and has marked 28 strikeouts during that time. (An excellent article from Bleacher Report about Sheets’s comeback is available here, if you’re interested.) Sheets’s comeback has proven to be “the real deal” and I couldn’t be happier for him (in my view, once a Brewer, always a Brewer; best of all in Sheets’s case, he’s on a contending team).

Finally, the Racine Concert Band will play its final summer concert this Sunday at the Racine Zoo. (Showtime is 7 p.m.) So if you’re in the mood for a free concert, please be sure to stop on by and listen to the band.